Welcome to Diverse City (CD - 2004)

Personnel: tobyMac (vocals); Joe Baldridge, Joe Weber, Cary Barlowe (guitar); Solomon Olds (electric guitar, keyboards, bass guitar, drum machine, programming); Mark Douthit, Barry Green, Mike Haynes (horns); Brent Milligan (bass guitar); Tim Donahue (drums); Christopher Stevens, Jaime Moore (programming); Gabe Patillo (sound effects); Joanna Valencia, Nirva Dorsaint, Jason Estridge (background vocals); Coffee , dc Talk, Randy Crawford, Superchic[k], T-Bone, Mob-action, TruDog.

Toby McKeehan (aka tobyMac) is a founding member of the celebrated Christian hip-hop/R&B group dc Talk, but has been slowly building a significant solo career for himself as well. His 2001 debut album was well received, and his sophomore effort is an impressive melting pot of hip-hop, dancehall reggae, and guitar rock. Like most such albums, it could stand to be trimmed by 15 or 20 minutes (the cutesy little kid cameo is overlong and unnecessary, for example), but at its core Welcome to Diverse City is well written, beautifully sung, and nicely produced, with a satisfying variety of styles and textures. "The Slam" is a sort of funky nu-metal (but that's meant in a good way); "Hey Now" is a swooningly hooky rock-R&B hybrid; "Fresher Than a Night at the W" is straight-up old school hip-hop. Best of all is the P-Funkified title track, which features a cameo by none other than Bootsy Collins himself. "Getaway Car" and "Phenomenon" should probably have been relegated to B-side status on a CD single, but they're not bad, just not up to the high standard set by almost every other song on this very fine album. ~ Rick Anderson

When TobyMac (AKA Toby McKeehan) chose to leave his groundbreaking, hit-making, Dove Award-winning Christian rock band DC Talk to pursue a solo career, some fans questioned his judgment. One listen to WELCOME TO DIVERSE CITY, however, should silence even the most ardent naysayers. A career watershed, the album reveals the singer/rapper as an exceptionally creative artist with a musical scope as broad as any act in CCM. "Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy)" is an aggressive hip-hop slammer in the vein of "Sabotage"-era Beastie Boys, while "Poetically Correct" incorporates heavy-metal guitars, often recalling the best work of Limp Bizkit and Rage Against the Machine. From there the expansive record progresses though moody Sting-like sophisticated pop ("Atmosphere"), Avril Lavigne-style alternative rock ("Gone"), and rump-shaking, dance-floor funk of the Gap Band/Rick James variety ("Diverse City," "Getaway Car"). Amazingly, the disc never sounds like a mish-mash. Imbued with the passion of faith and the freedom that results from uncompromising artistry, WELCOME TO DIVERSE CITY is a greeting well worth receiving. minimize